The 400 years between the prophecy of Malachi and the advent of Christ are frequently described as "silent," but they were in fact crowded with activity. I want to look at a Jewish sect that arose ...

Pharisees were religious zealots who were very legalistic in nature. They would often expound the Scriptures in the synagogues and pray before people. They appeared very pious and in people’s eyes, it ...

Both Luke and Matthew have a large section of ‘woes’, that is, a denunciation of those who publicly kept the Law and its commandments, but who privately were far from the purity of heart which the Law ...

Once again, the Pharisees want to trap Jesus. Matthew 22 is full of controversies. After opening with the parable of the wedding feast and the man without a wedding garment, there follow four separate ...

Since Aulen thought that the impure were outside the community, he must have thought (3) that the 'Pharisees' controlled Judaism and could make those with whom they disagreed feel excluded (nos. 2 and ...

Scholars have spent an impressive amount of energy on the study of the historical Jesus and much of it has revolved around his Jewishness. "Whom do men say that I am?" Jesus once asked his disciples ...

While Judaism and the Jewish People have always been one religion and one nation; their one wholeness has always been the sum of many very different parts. In Biblical days, the People of Israel were ...

Presenting the Pharisees as self-righteous hypocrites concerned more with the law than with people is prejudicial, biblically inaccurate and offensive to many Jews, several scholars said. The ...

The Pharisees hold a unique place in the Gospels as critics of Jesus and his teachings. Their name means “separation,” and they held themselves apart as models of perfection in the law. They were ...